The Test
by KJaneway115
Summary: Unexpected training drills leave the senior staff feeling a little "wet behind the ears." Written for the 2014 VAMB Secret Summer Exchange.


_A/N: Written for the 2014 VAMB Secret Summer Exchange for Cheshire, who requested a story in which Tuvok made the senior staff undergo training drills. Thanks to Mizvoy for the edit, and to Cheshire for the request. This story is set between _Alter Ego _and _Coda.

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><p><span>THE TEST<span>

_**By KJaneway115**_

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><p>Captain Kathryn Janeway was looking forward to an afternoon of total relaxation. The ship was in the territory of the Shodanga, a peaceful, unassuming people who had granted <em>Voyager<em> passage through their space without a word of argument. The Shodangan leader had assured Janeway that her ship would come to no harm as long as they were in Shodangan territory. Janeway was anxious to keep moving towards home, but she also wanted to take advantage of the opportunity for the crew to rest, so she'd had Chakotay create a reduced duty schedule which allowed everyone some extra time off.

On this particular afternoon, Neelix and Tom had organized a holodeck getaway for the senior staff in Tom and Harry's luau program. Everyone was looking forward to it, especially the captain. She'd had very little downtime in the past few months, and all she wanted to do was lie in a beach chair and drink one of Tom's fruity syntheholic creations.

When the doors to the holodeck opened, the party was already in full swing. "Welcome, Captain!" Neelix exclaimed. He extended a tray of something that was bright pink and round in shape. "Would you like a Shodangan boliwa egg? I procured some from the last planet we stopped at. They're supposed to be quite a delicacy."

She held up a hand. "Thank you, Neelix, but I think I'll pass." He looked a little crestfallen. "Maybe later. Right now I'm interested in a snack of the liquid variety. Where's the bar?"

At that moment, her first officer appeared at her side. "I'm heading there myself, Captain. May I escort you?"

She smiled and tucked her arm into his. "Why, thank you, Commander." Chakotay led her over to a holographic bartender who was making elaborate drinks.

"What can I get you, beautiful?" the bartender asked her. He was well built and wearing nothing but his swim trunks.

Chakotay leaned over and whispered in her ear, "B'Elanna added him to the program."

Janeway burst out laughing, and then tried to compose herself and look the bartender in the eye. "I'll have one of those drinks with the little umbrellas in it please."

The bartender flashed her a knowing grin. "A tropical drink for a tropical beauty. Coming right up."

"Did she program him to be so over the top on purpose?" Janeway asked, turning back to her first officer.

He shrugged. "You'll have to ask her. She's right over there." He gestured to the pool where B'Elanna was lounging in a poolside chair, and Harry and Tom were playing some kind of game in the water. Chakotay ordered his drink, and they both made their way over to the pool area.

"Captain! Commander!" Tom greeted them. "Would you like to play some pool volleyball?"

"I think I'm just going to sit here and enjoy my drink," Janeway replied, "but thank you." She shrugged out of her swim coverup and lay down on the chair next to B'Elanna. Then she noticed her first officer staring unabashedly at her body, which was hugged tightly by the royal blue one-piece bathing suit she wore. She was blushing at his attention, and tried to divert his mind to other matters. "Are you going to try some volleyball, Commander?"

"Uh, no," he stammered, realizing that he'd been staring. "I think I'll just sit here and enjoy my drink for a while."

"This is heavenly," B'Elanna said from Janeway's other side.

"Yes, it's wonderful. And everyone seems to be having a great time." The captain paused. "Where's Tuvok?"

"I don't think he's coming," B'Elanna replied. "I think he had enough of this holodeck program with that Maryana."

Janeway frowned. She knew that social situations weren't her security officer's favorite pastime, but she had wanted everyone to be together.

"Forget about Tuvok, Captain," Tom called from the pool. "He's a spoilsport! Don't let him ruin your afternoon."

Janeway chuckled. "Don't worry, Tom. I won't!" She lay back in her chair and let the holographic sun stream down on her face. It didn't feel quite like the real thing, but it certainly felt nice. Kes came around with a tray of little sandwiches which looked a lot more appealing than hot pink eggs, so Janeway, Chakotay and B'Elanna all took one.

When they had finished their sandwiches, B'Elanna suggested to the captain that they take a dip in the hot tub. While playing volleyball in the pool hardly sounded relaxing, sitting in a warm tub with jets of water streaming was right up Janeway's alley. Just as she was settling into the hot water, sitting where a jet would blow water right into the knot in her lower back, the ship jolted.

Janeway bolted out of the water and fished for her swim coverup, which she had tossed on the ground near the hot tub. She found it just as the holodeck went dark. She fumbled around for her comm badge, which was still attached to the coverup. "Janeway to bridge," she said. She was met by static and tried again. "Janeway to bridge. Report." Again, there was no response. "Janeway to engineering." Static. Around her, everyone was murmuring and fumbling, trying to find their comm badges and their clothes. She pulled on her swim coverup over her suit, which was still dripping wet from the hot tub. Just then, she heard splashing, and a moment later, a very wet and cold Tom Paris bumped into her.

"Sorry," he said.

"That's all right, Mr. Paris."

"Oh, Captain. I didn't know it was you. Sorry!"

"It's okay." She raised her voice. "Listen up, people. Our first priority is to find out what's happened to the ship. We need to contact the bridge."

A bright light shone in her eyes, and she shielded them with her hand. "Sorry, Captain," Neelix said as he lowered the light. "I didn't mean to blind you. I keep this flashlight under the bar here, for emergencies."

She tried to contain the smile that tugged at her lips. Trust Neelix to keep flashlights in a holodeck program for emergencies. "Good thinking, Mr. Neelix. Go with Lieutenant Torres and see if you can access the holodeck control panel."

While Neelix and Torres took their flashlight to find the control panel, Janeway's eyes were slowly adjusting to the dark, and she could see a few shadows moving around. "If the ship is under attack, we need to get to the bridge," came her first officer's voice from her side.

"Agreed, Commander, but I think we'd have felt another jolt if we were under attack."

"Probably, but anything is possible in the Delta Quadrant."

At that moment, Torres called from across the holodeck, "We can't access the holodeck controls, Captain. There's no way to shut down the program, and no way to call for exit. The controls are completely frozen."

"Well, then, we'll have to take the Jeffries Tubes. We need to get to the bridge and find out what's going on."

"Crawling on bare knees through the Jeffries Tubes in our bathing suits?" Tom Paris asked.

Janeway put her hands on her hips, Neelix's flashlight illuminating her posture, and even in nothing but swimsuit and coverup, wet tendrils of hair dripping water on her shoulders, she was all captain. "Do you have a better idea, Mr. Paris?"

"We could stay here and play tag in the swimming pool," Paris joked. Kim and Torres chuckled.

"What's tag?" Kes asked.

"We don't have time for this," Chakotay cut off the discussion. "Neelix, give me the flashlight so I can find the Jeffries Tube."

"Here you go, Commander."

The senior staff followed Chakotay as he made his way through the holodeck program and found the entrance to the Jeffries Tube concealed behind a large palm tree. He pulled the hatch open and gestured with one hand. "Ladies first, Captain."

Janeway tried to see his face in the dim light provided by the open hatch, but it was too dark to make out his expression clearly. She could've sworn she saw him wink at her before she crawled into the Jeffries Tube. A moment later, he crawled in after her, ordering Tom Paris to bring up the rear. She felt his eyes on her as she crawled along on her hands and knees, the sharp metal grating digging into her skin. "You just keep your eyes on the Jeffries Tube, Commander," she said in a voice intended for his ears only.

"I hope you're not accusing me of ulterior motives, Captain. I thought if I let Tom Paris go behind you, he'd be starting some kind of betting pool, and poor Harry might just faint with embarrassment."

She heard the others entering the Jeffries Tube, then, and resumed her course, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips despite their potentially dire situation.

When they finally emerged from the turbolift onto the bridge, Janeway immediately ordered, "Report!" Then she looked around at the bridge and realized that everything appeared to be completely normal.

Tuvok stood up calmly from the command chair and looked at the senior staff as they emerged from the turbolift. The captain was wearing only a bathing suit and coverup; her suit was wet and leaving small droplets of water on the floor. Commander Chakotay was in his swim trunks and a t-shirt. Both Tom Paris and Harry Kim were wearing nothing but swim trunks, and they were also dripping on the carpet of the bridge. B'Elanna was wearing a very nice bathing suit with a tropical pattern, and Neelix and Kes were the only members of the group who were dressed in anything resembling clothes. "Everything is 'fine' here, Captain," the Vulcan said. "There is nothing to report."

"Then why did the holodeck power grid blow?"

"Yeah," B'Elanna added. "And what about the comm system? It wasn't working a minute ago. We tried hailing the bridge multiple times."

"There is no problem with the holodeck or with the comm system," Tuvok replied.

"What are you talking about?" Chakotay asked angrily. "Weren't you listening to what we just said?"

"There is no problem, Commander, because I rigged the holodeck to malfunction and also temporarily disabled your comm badges."

Neelix pressed his comm badge; sure enough, it chirped normally.

The captain's face was growing redder as she was becoming madder and madder. In a barely contained voice, she said, "In my ready room, Lieutenant. The rest of you, get back into uniform."

There was a chorus of "Yes, ma'ams," as the senior staff dispersed and Tuvok followed Janeway into the ready room.

About an hour later, Janeway called Chakotay, Torres, Paris and Kim to the conference room. All of them were back in uniform. "What was all that about, Captain?" Chakotay asked when they were all seated.

"Well," Janeway said, "it seems our security chief thought that the senior staff was becoming too relaxed."

"Too relaxed?" B'Elanna exploded. "We've barely had a day off in two years."

Janeway held up a hand. "He rigged the holodeck to malfunction while we were all relaxing as a drill to test our reaction times." She paused. "Fortunately, we all passed with flying colors."

"There is one person who wasn't tested," Paris pointed out. Everyone's head snapped to him. "Tuvok!"

"Oh don't worry, Mr. Paris," said the captain with a gleam in her eye, "Mr. Tuvok will get his just desserts for making us all appear on the bridge in our bathing suits." She looked around at her senior staff, allowing herself to smile. "Good work, all of you. Dismissed."

Everyone left the room except Chakotay, who lingered for a moment. "I think I'll have to thank Tuvok," he said with a wink.

Janeway raised an eyebrow. "Why is that, Commander?"

"That bathing suit is very becoming on you, Kathryn. I certainly never would have gotten such a good view of it if it weren't for Tuvok."

Janeway rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. "_Dismissed_, Commander." But he could have sworn he saw her wink at him as he turned his back and exited the briefing room.

...

Lieutenant Commander Tuvok walked through _Voyager_'s corridors, headed towards the shuttle bay. He had been assigned to a routine mapping mission. With the ship about to exit Shodanga space, they needed to chart the territory ahead of them, and the captain had ordered him to do so. He didn't know the identity of the other team members yet, but he had few problems with other crew members and didn't anticipate any issues. He entered the shuttle bay.

"Well, Mr. Vulcan, how are you today?" Neelix asked cheerfully. The Talaxian appeared to be preparing his old shuttle for launch.

"I am well, Mr. Neelix. What are you doing?"

"Getting ready for our survey mission, of course."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "_Our _survey mission?"

"Yes. The captain didn't tell you? She assigned me to accompany you on the mapping mission. I do have a greater knowledge of this quadrant than anyone else on board."

"Why are you preparing your shuttle?" The Vulcan tried to hide his distaste at the prospect of accompanying the talkative Talaxian on a mission that could last two weeks or more.

"Well, since all of the Starfleet shuttles are undergoing their annual maintenance checks this week, the captain asked me if we could use my ship. Of course, I happily agreed. I'm always glad to be of service, Mr. Vulcan."

"We're taking _your_ ship?" Tuvok rarely felt surprise, and even when he did, he did not express it, but at this moment, he felt a sense of shock and foreboding at the prospect of not only spending two weeks alone with Neelix, but of doing so in the Talaxian's old, dirty, cluttered vessel.

"We are, Mr. Vulcan," Neelix replied with a smile. Then he handed Tuvok a PADD. "Oh, the captain wanted me to give this to you."

The PADD contained a very simple message: "Just think of it as a test."


End file.
